William the Silent was the military and political genius who led the revolt of the Netherlands against Spain and Philip II. In this brilliant biography Dame Veronica Wedgwood traces the events that led William from a happy childhood in the peace of the small court at Dillenburg to the precarious intrigues of the Imperial Court and then to his unlikely role as a rebel leader and the focal point of Dutch unity. The book ends with the moving account of violent assassination and the grief of the people at William's death.